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continuing coverage. we welcome our international viewers on cnn international as well. tsunami waves hit hawaii today after a massive earthquake in chile. we continue our special coverage of today's earthquake and its aftermath. hawaiians began evacuating coastal areas early this morning. the first waves actually reached hawaii's big island just about an hour ago. so far no reports have of any damage or injuries. we understand the waves are only about three feet or so, but you'll hear from jacqui jeras, the first waves are usually the smallest ones. the entire pacific rim, however, is it under tsunami warning after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit chile early this morning. the death count in chile has risen to 214. president barack obama contacted chile's president to express his condolences and offer some help. jacqui jeras in our weather center. let's talk about the tsunami to start off with. that's the immediate threat now. yes there have been a couple of

waves that have hit the big island. those aren't the waves people are most concerned or worried about, right? >> not necessarily. the first couple ones aren't necessarily the biggest so we can continue to see these waves or, you know, rises in the water levels move on in. the worst that we have seen so far was just over three feet and that was on the island of maui. so we have seen it in many of the hawaiian islands now, all of these rises have been anywhere between even less than half of a foot to just over that three foot rise. we got a direct quote from the director of the pacific tsunami warning center saying that he thinks hawaii very likely has dodged a bullet. but we want to be careful with that and let you know that the warnings are still up and they're still posted and so we want people to stay on high alert, stay in evacuated places that they're in, just to make sure. we also had confirmed rises in tsunamis in california, a little bit of damage in ventura, some buoys in the water were damaged when that water came back away from the shoreline. so the waves will come in and then they'll come back out.

we saw rises above normal tide, about a foot and a half to two and a half feet in california. so we'll continue to monitor this as we go through the hours. the hawaii event was to take place 15 hours out. as we progress out into time, we'll watch as this moves up the coast here. the u.s. and on towards alaska, so they can expect to see the rises and we also been seeing things happening around new zealand where the rises have been a little bit more significant here as well. so those waves will continue to propagate out over time, and we could see some sloshing back and forth. so hopefully this has been the worst of it in hawaii. we'll continue to, you know, watch and see if anything else comes on up. these are the dark beuoys as we call them and a series of warning systems, they are sensors on the bottom of the ocean floor that feel the pressure changes and any movement that would be happening with the crust. and see all these things lit up here, those are ones that are in that active mode that have seen

any of these changes, so, yeah, so -- >> that is incredible. >> it is all happening across the pacific basin. we're expecting that to continue in the hours to come. now in terms of who sees the worst of it, okay, this isn't all just, you know, how far away from the initial tsunami you live, this also has to do with the elevation basically of the ocean floor and what the shoreline looks like. and so as we take a look at this computer model of what we were predicting here, you can see the red is anywhere where we were expecting to see heights of about a meter or more. so that's about three feet. here's hawaii right in the middle. so you can see as you get into the shoreline areas, you see that red, right? so it is the elevation, it is with the coastline, where we start to see some of those things increase. and that's one of the reasons why we're so worried about what could happen in the hawaiian islands here is that, you know, this curves around the coastlines and you get into these little bays and that water

funnels up into the bay, for example, you know, here in hilo, and so the water rise is going to be much greater in those little bays and even go up the rivers than they're going to be, say, on the front side of the big island. this is going to continue to move through the chains in the upcoming hour. so, you know, tsunami continues to be a concern. the other thing, fredricka, by the way, not just the tsunami, we have been dealing with aftershocks. we have had dozens and dozens and dozens of aftershocks already. some have been strong. 6.0, 5.0, those are pretty strong. most have been offshore and away from the populated area. santiago is up here. and most of these have been occurring further down. it is a very unpopulated area. >> so sorry to interrupt, but that would be offshore and that's pretty strong. 6.0, and beyond, magnitude, could that help fuel the push of more tsunami waves or could that, you know, help fuel the existing tsunami wave? >> probably not.

you have to have a little bit more strength i think than that. i think anything around the 6.0 or less is not very likely to generate another tsunami. but sometimes additional earthquakes can happen as a result of this, you know? if the plate moves, this could eventually push the plate elsewhere and trigger other earthquakes. so we'll continue to watch that threat as well. but these aftershocks can last for days, weeks, months and, yeah, even over a year after the big one happens. >> wow. that's incredible. thanks so much, jacqui jeras, we'll check back with you momentarily. on the big island, the island that has already seen a couple of those waves, even though they are between that 1 and 3 foot range that jacki was talking about, our own thelma gutierrez vacationing there on the big island with her family, she's joining us on the phone right now. your family is now at higher ground. but you are staying at the hotel where you all were so you're able to continue to report on this, right? >> reporter: fred, actually, the family was moved up to higher

ground, but then they came at last minute and told several of the managers of the hilton waikaloa and myself and another reporter that we had to evacuate as well. they moved us to higher ground. i'm sitting in a evacuation center with nearly a thousand people. and i can tell you here there are a lot of anxious people, folks who left all their belongings back at the hotel, people who were here with weepy children, who are taking naps on the ground, and who are watching the coverage of this thing. and one of the things that we're expecting right now within the next half hour, fredricka, is the hawaii county civil defense. and hopefully they'll be able to, you know, announce an all clear. of course it is too premature to speculate on that now. but that's what -- officials were telling us, they were hoping for that so that people could return. nobody wants to return more than some of the folks who have been

evacuated out this morning. i can tell you, it was quite unnerving to try to have to -- with cnn at the time we're packing and trying to pull some of our belongings together. the kids were crying and so it was a pretty hectic morning. but, you know, that's what people are -- that they'll get that all clear, they'll be able to return. but we have heard that even if that happens, there will be restrictions in terms of returning to the beaches, that kind of thing or even riding in any of the boats out on the water for the next few days because they think that the ocean condition will be so uncertain. of course, way premature to speculate on that right now. of course, we're still under a tsunami warning. and we're taking that very seriously. >> and you're at an evacuation center. we were seeing images of people near parked cars along the

roadway. particularly in oahu, on the way to the evacuation center, were you seeing some of the roadways on the big island that simply became parking lots? >> well, on the way to this particular spot, it was really interesting, fredricka, we're on highway 19 and that actually hugs the coast. that's between kona and the kuala coast. and what was really -- what really stood out about that is you had law enforcement officials along the way. they closed that highway down as soon as this morning -- the alarm was sounded this morning. they were doing this because they did not want anybody to try to gain access to the beaches, to take pictures of this or to observe because it would just simply be too risky. and so all of that highway was closed, which is also an eerie site because usually this area is well traveled as you know. and so the resort closed down, lots of people just laying

around this evacuation center, waiting for word that they'll be able to return, either to the airport, to leave the island, or back to the resort. >> wow, i'm feeling for all those with the small children, including you with your kids, who are pretty shaken by all this. thelma gutierrez, thank you very much. be safe. we'll continue to check in with you. all right. so we're talking about the tsunami that is threatening hawaii. all of this was triggered by that massive earthquake that took place overnight in chile. now an idea of what's taking place now. earlier i spoke with the ambassador to the u.n., the chilean ambassador to the u.n. who said we're almost used to this, earthquakes that is, and we're not necessarily relying on any other countries to help in our emergency rescue efforts. >> that's right. that's what i'm hearing also. a call went out to doctors to report for duty. they're talking about major damage to hospitals. however, they're saying we can

mag manage on our own. they're prepared very well for them. i want to show you video of the immense damage caused by the power of waves that crashed ashore in a town which is close to the epicenter, a town by the name of talcahuano. you see the amazing force of this water, that tossed around fishing boats like little toys, crashed them into each other. the pier has collapsed. some major, major damage there. this earthquake, it was so powerful, it was felt across the border in argentina. 1300 miles away, two people died there from this earthquake. that's how strong it was. as i mentioned in the beginning, there has been major damage to hospitals. want to show you this hospital in another town which is like about 65 miles from the epicenter, very close. talca, you see the hospital there, the patients have been evacuated in what looks like a basement.

they're waiting on the military, which is evacuating patients from many hospitals which sustained very severe damage. the president, michelle bachelet is saying they're trying to transfer patients to different hospitals which don't have as much damage. they're using schools. going to see if they can convert schools to shelters for patients. we also heard from the undersecretary of health saying that all hospitals are functioning. those that are damaged are still open for patients. if anybody is injured, they can go there. even if they have to be treated in the streets. and, again, fred, they're saying we don't need outside help. we are managing. although a call, i heard a call go out to doctors to report for duty, to come in from the north of the country to the center. a call to people to go to the hospital only in an absolute emergency. there is also call to people to save energy, to save fuel so that there is enough for the ambulances to go around. not clear exactly the extent of injuries to the patients. i was listening to the

authorities talk about that, they're just say they have a lot of trauma injuries, won't go beyond that. also they're worried about the quality of the water. there is the end of summer in chile. very hot weather. people are thirsty. the water drains are burst in many area, the water has been cut off. also we heard some looting, desperate getting into -- breaking into stores to try to get some supplies. the president called on people not to loot, to have patience, that they're handling the situation and we'll be hearing from president michelle bachelet in this hour. we'll bring you the latest on it and i'll tell you what she has to say. fred, back to you. this is the situation. >> thank you. appreciate that. more of our continuing coverage from chile to hawaii after this. sfx: coin drop

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welcome back. i'm fredricka whitfield. an update on the chile earthquake and the tsunami worries that were triggered across the pacific ocean. the first tsunami waves are rolling into hawaii, actually. tsunami warnings have been issued for nations along the entire pacific rim. the death count in chile is up to 214 after today's 8.8 earthquake. there are no reports that any u.s. citizens have been killed or injured. president barack obama says the u.s. is ready to help if chile wants it. >> earlier today a devastating earthquake struck the nation of chile affecting millions of people. this catastrophic event was

followed by multiple aftershocks and has prompted tsunami warnings across the pacific ocean. earlier today i was briefed by my national security team on the steps that were taken to protect our own people, and to stand with our chilean friends. early indications that rhundred of lives have been lost in chile and the damage is severe. on behalf of the american people, michelle and i send our deepest condolences to the chilean people. >> all right, so what was triggered by that chilean earthquake were the tsunamis and so now we understand that hawaii already has been hit by maybe two tsunami waves, but just in the realm of one to three feet, not that significant. we're hearing from oceanographers and our meteorologist jacqui jeras that first few waves are not the ones to worry about. they're concerned about what is to follow. and hilo, on the big island, is expected to get the brunt, expected to get the first big brunt of these waves.

so let's talk to reporter gina mangiaria in honolulu. give me an idea how exactly people prepare. i understand that the warnings went out, the advisories went out, the sirens went off and people were to prepare. what does that mean? >> well, we had an exceptionally long time to deal with this, reporting to you here from hawaii state civil defense, inside a bunker, inside diamond head crater, diamond head one of waikiki's most notable landmarks. under normal circumstances they have a rule of thumb, three by three, three hours before the first anticipated arrival of the wave, they would start issuing the first of three warnings. instead, this time they started warning us six hours earlier. starting from 6:00 a.m., a full five hours before the first wave is expected to hit, we got an unexpected wakeup call, of course that was our first of many sirens. and then one on the hour every hour and then again on the half

hour before each island expected the arrival of its waves. so we had plenty of time -- >> what do they do with that time? we hear about people getting supplies, like what supplys? clearly we see a lot of the boats, like the video we're seeing now, boats being either moved to higher ground or taken out to sea. how do people prepare in that six-hour span? >> in the case of -- unless you were near the shore or in a tsunami inundation zone, there wasn't much to worry about. the state was tell people just stay put. in hawaii, most families do abide by the practice of keeping quite a bit of emergency supplies on hand. water, batteries, flashlights, electricity, to supplant if the electricity were to go out. those seem to be in good supply. for those who lived on the coast there was a lot of needing to check, remind themselves they were in the tsunami inundation zone and where that was. we have an enormous tourist population at any given time,

tens of thousands of people, especially in waikiki. each hotel has its own procedure, whether they evacuate people out of the building and up to higher ground or vertical evacuation. >> and what does this mean, this inundation area? >> that's right. we have in our phone books or the state civil defense website the tsunami inundation zone. it is a line drawn on a map based on where the water would be expected to hit there was a 9.5 earthquake from chile. so that is what our models were based on. we went into today with a high degree of confidence that our inundation zone maps that most of us rely on in our households were accurate and would withstand this magnitude of earthquake because it was lower than the previous worst case scenario that we had seen. >> so does it mean most households kind of have this map or have their plan in place or something is posted you know, in their homes or maybe it is on the internet where people can at the ready get a reminder of these places? >> that's right.

there is a real quick reminder on the internet. in this case, i don't know many people have them taped up to their wall but it is in the phone book in the white pages so you can flip to it and the state civil defense websites were very busy this morning as well with people double-checking and going and checking your address and see where you were. >> i think you heard you earlier before you came to work, you were among those in the store trying to get all the supplies, trying to to get your family in check so that they would not have any worries while you're at work. >> that's right. we have, you know, the kids are in a good place. my husband is a mariner, he's on the sea taking care of boats at this time as well. so we had to do what many families have to do, get the baby-sitt baby-sitter, get to work and make sure we can both do our jobs for the community. >> appreciate your time. be safe. >> thank you. >> we'll have much more of our continuing coverage of the earthquake in chile and now the tsunami threatening hawaii. it can happen anytime, when you least expect it...

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all right, we continue to watch the developments out of chile as well as hawaii. josh levs is following the latest stream of information online as well. >> it just keeps pouring in, fred. really continuously. one thing we're watching now is

all the latest out of hawaii. we have the information from the pacific tsunami warning center up right behind me. we're also following a web page over here that is hitsunami.info, carrying live video. we're watching the absolute latest throughout there. also throughout the day, since early, i've been watching everything we have been getting out of chile. we're getting some pretty stirring descriptions, even from our own ei reporters about thins they saw today. i pulled up some of the most powerful quotes from our own i-reporters today. we live in a 20-story building and with the way it was shaking, was not about to see how long it could last. things in our apartment were falling off the walls and tables. the three of us made our way down the 7 stories and got outside. we tried to gather ourselves and make sure everyone was okay. that's from luke who was in santiago. we have another one here as well from anna fernando, also in santiago. she said her bed was moving so violently that it woke her up.

i'm on the 10th floor of a building and it was swaying and shaking. suddenly it was just gone and then the aftershocks came. my bed kept shifting. now, i want to show you some of the most powerful photos we have been getting throughout the day. one thing i have for you, we have been looking at photos from all sorts of different sources including the associated press. i don't know if you've seen this one. >> it is extraordinary. >> it is extraordinary. this is one of the first pictures we saw from santiago and it shows the power of that quake, that highway ripped apart. those cars turned upside down. as we go through a few more photos there from the ap, what i want everyone to see here, especially if you're catching up on the news now, that's an area called talca, which is also one of the areas early on authorities were concerned about, that was a house. we're looking at pictures from talca and santiago of roads ripped apart, homes ripped apart, and some places you can't even tell what it once was that you were even seeing -- look at that. it is absolutely striking. >> extraordinary. >> i will also tell you that we can provide information all day long, but there is nothing like hearing the words of a person who is physically there

experiencing that quake. i'm going to bring you now a little piece of my interview earlier today with who would have thunk a guy name elliott yamin known to "american idol" viewers all over the world. he was a finalist. he happened to be in chile. he gave me a description of what happened to him in the hotel. >> i feel very lucky to have sought out safety. i took the steps. there was one lone person who happened to be my neighbor next door to me, who was left on the floor at the time. and as i was yelling out, saw him peek around the corner and he started heading for the stairs and it was like a movie, it was a hollywood film. we're run down the hall as we're being kind of thrown about the hallways. so we reached the staircase and ran down six flights of stairs to safety and luckily got out unharmed, unscathed. >> and you'll see on cnn.com now

our full interview with elliott yamin, one of the most popular things we have on the web now. you hear him talk about the fact that he didn't bring enough insulin medication, he's diabetic, he worked that out. he says he'll now be okay. i'll do one more thing, fred. we started off talking about hawaii. you know what, scammers will take advantage of anything. and i want you to see a tweet that i was taking a look at here this is a tweet from a place called twitter tips. careful with links to -- i'll tell you about this in a second, popular target for spammers and mal ware right now this is popular on twitter this is called a hash tag. anybody reporting anything on twitter about hawaii and the tsunami includes that in there. it is the pound sign and hitsunami. there are people trying to take advantage of this. they'll send out tweets, seem to be pictures or videos or information about the hawaii tsunami. but what they actually are spam ware or mal ware that can infect your computer. so, you know what, don't click on any links that are unfamiliar

to you. check them out, be careful. >> what a shame that there would be people that want to take advantage of others in desperate situations like this. josh, thanks so much. it is pretty extraordinary to hear so many different accounts coming from chile, just like we just did as well as hawaii. we're going to continue our coverage and continue to watch out to people living through this experience right now. and try...and try. i heard eating whole grain oats can help lower my cholesterol. it's gonna be tough...so tough. my wife and i want to lower our cholesterol, but finding healthy food that tastes good is torturous. your father is suffering. [ male announcer ] honey nut cheerios tastes great and can help lower cholesterol. bee happy. bee healthy. ♪ ♪ ♪

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welcome back. i'm fredricka whitfield. now an update on today's earthquake off the coast of chile and the tsunami wave that followed it. the massive 8.8 quake rocked chile early this morning, at least 214 people are dead. buildings have been toppled. roads crumbled. and bridges have collapsed. the earthquake triggered tsunami warnings for the entire pacific rim. the first tsunami waves hit hawaii's big island about an hour and a half ago. so far there are no reports of serious damage or injuries. hawaiians are still waiting for the all clear, however, signal, but an official at the pacific tsunami warning center says hawaii may have, quote, dodged a bullet. jacqui jeras is in the severe weather center. boy, that's a very confident kind of outlook, something tells me, you know, no one wants to

let down their guard as of yet. >> and that's smart. the warning is still out there. so you don't want to say, hey, you know, everybody go back. because there is still a little bit of uncertainty about these situations. but when the director of the tsunami warning center says we dodged a bullet, hey, that's great news, hopefully. hopefully that's the case. we did have a tsunami. it occurred. it happened. we saw several rises in sea heights for the hawaiian islands. we actually had more significant ones over in chile. we had, you know, more than seven feet of water which came in there. so this continues to go. we also had reports across new zealand and this thing, as you can see, this is the forecast and the timing for the propagation of this tsunami. you see this is going to head up, the western u.s. coast, it is go to move up toward alaska. this will be heading over towards indonesia and into japan. in fact, you know, the tsunami that happened in 1960 from chile quake, the highest tsunami that was reported from it was in

japan. so you don't want to say we're over and done with this yet. while it feels that at this point, at least for hawaii, it feels like a nonevent, let's hope that's the case. but as long as the warnings are up, i want people to pay attention to that, stay where you're at, stay where you're put until those warnings have been dropped. there is no expiration time on a warning like this. the tsunami warning center will say, hey, okay, we feel that that threat has been cleared and we'll cancel the warning. until that happens, we're going to say, you know, we'll watch for more waves and that's a good possibility. >> so tell me how or whether all of those aftershocks that people are feeling in chile might in any way impact the tsunami watch. >> probably not. probably not at all. because, you know, you usually need a 7.0 or higher in terms of generating a tsunami. so, you know, we had an 8.8 which is unheard of, if it verifies, and that's what ends up being the case, that will be in the top ten that we know of in terms of most intense

magnitude for earthquakes. so this is crazy strong. in fact, coming up, when i see you again, fredricka, i'll show you a comparison between this earthquake and haiti and why we have had less damage with this one. a lot of that has to do with the building codes. >> and the population. >> and the population, exactly. this happened three miles offshore in an unpopulated area. santiago is way up here compared to where the big quake was. and so all of those things made this a little lesser than it could have been. granted, you know, still very tragic and we'll continue to see these aftershocks. there have been dozens of them, over 30, possibly as many as 50 now. i got to count them up. there have been that many. >> that's incredible. >> but you expect to see hundreds of these aftershocks easily after a big quake like this would occur. and not are they going to just last for hours, but they're probably going to be lasting for days, for weeks, months, possibly well over a year. >> poor people are going to be shane to the core for a long time. >> it is a very active fault, fredricka.

they're used to earthquakes, just not ones like this. >> this is a big one. thanks a lot, jacqui jeras. we'll check back you throughout the evening. let's go ralitsa vassileva at the chile desk. you can get a handle over all that is being said from the president of the country on down. >> fred, we're still waiting to hear from the president of the country michelle bachelet but we just heard from the president-elect of the country. the country is in a transition. in two weeks it will have a new president. we're hearing from both of them. the president-elect is in the city of concepcion, the second largest city in the country, the closest main city to the epicenter and we heard from the president-elect right there in that city, talking about the damage to bridges, talking about a collapsed 15-story building. he's very angry about that, says that if building code was not followed for that building, that those who built it will be prosecuted to the full letter of the law. this is a country which is very serious about building codes,

having been through so many major earthquakes, that building, he said, was 50% inhabited, rescue efforts are under way. he said in concepcion, thousands of people have been injured. they're trying to tend to those who are in need. he also said water, badly needed water is being trucked into the city. he hopes that electricity will be put in there very soon, that it will be back there and running. as i mentioned, bridges are severely damaged. lots of concern for that building there in concepcion. also close to the epicenter, i want to show you another piece of video that we have. this is from a smaller town talcahuano to give you an idea of the strength of the water, the waves that crashed into that port. a pier is totally destroyed. the boats have been tossed around like toys, crashed into each other. one on top of the other. and into each other. you see the force of this earthquake and the destruction it has caused.

so strong that in neighboring argentina, 1300 miles away, people felt it and two people died. we have heard from the undersecretary of health saying that there has been major damage to the hospitals. however, they don't need outside assistance at this point. they're trying to tend to all patients at the hospital, tending to the patients on the streets, but they are managing. they have sent out a call to all doctors and nurses, wherever they are, to report to duty, asking people to go to the hospital, only in an absolute emergency, asking them to conserve power, to conserve electricity. and so that's what's going on, fred, right now. we expect to hear from president michelle bachelet within this hour at any moment. we'll bring you her statement as soon as it comes in. >> ralitsa, thank you very much. appreciate that. while they continue to pick up the pieces, try to assess the damage, try to reach those injured or in trouble there in chile, in hawaii they are simply waiting. they're waiting for the results

of what that earthquake triggered. we're talking about tsunami. already there have been a couple of waves that have hit the big island. but nothing significant thus far and that's what people are most concerned about. sfx: coin drop

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in about 15 hours or so after that earthquake, 8.8 magnitude hit chile and still there are people, even state side who are trying to reach out, trying to find their loved ones in chile. our susan candiotti is in new york. give us an idea what those efforts have led to. >> well in one case, for several hours the rojas family, they own a small grocery store in a town called west new york, new jersey, right near new york city, and they have been frantic

over what may have happened to their mother. so since early this morning, the family has been on the phone every ten minutes or so, trying to reach iris rojas. she's staying in santiago for about three months, in their home, spending time with relatives. last night just before the earthquake hit, her husband hector left on a flight back to new york, so for hours they have not known what to think and whether iris was okay. >> we don't want to think nothing happened to our mom. and we're still hoping the best that at any moment she will communicate with us. >> reporter: if only you could talk to someone else who lives nearby or -- >> yes. >> reporter: to see -- >> we try. we tried some neighbors. we tried friends we have in common over there in chile. and people tried to call but seems to be like there is no communication, no communication all break down in santiago. and we don't know what time they're going to establish communications or really don't

know what's going on. it is hard to say when you try to call every five minutes and you don't get an answer. >> and this is iris' husband who broke down in tears saying he knows his wife is strong and he has faith in god that nothing has happened to her and that he eventually will be able to reach her. well, good news, fredricka. after trying all day, we just found out a little while ago that their prayers have been answered. iris is fine. it turns out the house has some cracks, she was, you know, swept out of her bed, this happened in the middle of the night as you know. there is no power, no water. so she's been looking all over the place for some way to reach her family and finally she found someone with a working phone that could get out and she called them and told them that she was fine. so i guess it just goes to show that in so many cases we're hearing time and again from families, don't give up, keep trying, but, of course, not everyone will necessarily have a happy ending. >> wow. that's great news for iris rojas and the rest of the family. i know they were worried sick,

wondering how she was doing. grad we're ab glad we're able to report that. good news. thank you very much. people are hoping for news like that as it pertains to them. so many of you in the u.s. are trying to get information about those american relatives or friends in chile. right now we want you to grab a pen and a paper. here is the number you need to call. the u.s. state department, toll free number is 1-888-470-4747. again, 1-888-407-4747. let's check in with jacqui jeras. we know people have been at the edge of their seats in hawaii, worried this tsunami that was triggered by this earthquake in chile. now what is the latest? >> the latest is that that bullet we were talking about officially dodged, fredricka. they just canceled -- >> incredible. >> they just canceled the tsunami warning for hawaii. so that is a bit of good news. they say the worst is over. the threat is no longer out

there for a destructive tsunami. however, you're still going to be seeing fluctuations in the ocean levels. the water continues to be very rough and very dangerous. and so they're saying even though the warning is canceled at this time, they say don't go back to resuming your normal activities or even re-entering any of these evacuated areas. you want to wait and listen for the official word from your county, civil defense people because there could still be some dangerous conditions out there. so the worst is certainly over with. we had the tsunami. just over three feet was the highest that we saw on maui. i would say, yes, hawaii officially dodging the bullet on this one. and such great news. however, keep in mind that those warnings are still out there for other countries in which do extend all the way to japan. you know it not completely over and done with, but certainly a bit of good news here tonight. >> and you mentioned that 1960 earthquake and tsunami, japan got hit very hard.

so asian coasts as well as new zealand, australia, all of them are still keeping a close watch on what potentially could be brought from this tsunami. >> right. >> jacqui jeras, thanks so much. appreciate that. a lot of folks who have evacuated, they're going to be really glad to hear this, but not really clear, jacqui, whether they'll be -- >> don't go back until they say it is all okay. >> we don't know if that means all clear you can go back to your hotels or homes, right? >> they have a siren system, so my guess is that they also have some type of an all clear siren that they'll be sounding. in addition to that, i know prior to this when the warnings were issued, the coast guard flew along the coast lines and made announcements that way. i would expect the same on the flip side of this event. >> wow. i was really feeling for those families with small kids that were, you know in parking lots and evacuation centers because this now will be great news including our thelma gutierrez vacationing on the big island. >> it is a scary thing. it is a threat that they're going to be dealing with for eternity, basically. so it is a good warmup, a good practice to realize how serious

a tsunami can be and now you know because you lived through it, what you need to do in that situation. >> jacqui jeras, thanks so much. we'll have much more of our continuing coverage of what was a tsunami that appears now to be officially lifted and, of course, still the aftermath of that earthquake in chile. f chevy malibu stands behind theirs for up to 100,000 miles. which makes it pretty clear whose standing out front. a consumers digest "best buy" two years running. chevy malibu. compare it to anyone and may the best car win. now, get a low mileage lease on this 2010 malibu for around $199 a month for 39 months. call for details. see your local chevy dealer. don: now get free delivery of walmart's $10 90-day generic prescriptions...

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welcome back. i'm fredricka whitfield. if you're just now joining us, we want to update you that the pacific tsunami warning center says hawaii is in the clear, no longer is there a destructive threat. however, what caused this warning in the first place, that earthquake in chile. and we're still learning new information about the damage caused by this sizable quake. it was centered about 200 miles away from the capital city of santiago. you can see the damage in this suburb right here. pretty extraordinary, some homes simply toppled, flattened. some officials say many buildings closer to the epicenter were reduced to rubble, just like this. the main international airport in santiago also suffering heavy damage and right now it is closed. our josh levs has been communicating with a number of people online whether it be from chile or even hawaii. i know a lot of the folks in hawaii are breathing a huge sigh

of relief because now it appears that the most dangerous threat of thegered by that quake has been lifted. >> this does not mean go run around and go in dangerous areas, obviously. listen for the authorities on that. but, yes, the warning has been lifted. i've been over by the big touch screen computer throughout the day, 12 hours now. i moved to the middle of the newsroom buzzing throughout the day, we have had a lot going on. everyone coming in for a weekend duty, doing a lot of work here. and one thing we have been finding today is that in chile, also in hawaii, a lot of people turning to the internet. one thing getting a lot of use today is skype, people communicating over the internet. charles ball, we're about to speak with him. charles has been inside honolulu and charles, as i understand it, you basically are holed up inside honolulu today and your plan was you were going to wait it out there, right? >> that's true. we're in a condo building at the edge of honolulu harbor and we evacuated upwards in the building. >> talk to me about this.

first of all, i want to emphasize, the authorities were okay with what you did. you werebuilding and you were told if you stayed there, that would be okay. >> that was a recommendation from the hotels in waikiki also, to get above the third floor and in the modern concrete structures would be safe. >> i know you stocked up with all sorts of stuff. lots of water and food. before we get to that, do me a favor, now that the warning has been lifted, turn around, look behind you, let me know -- because we're seeing a little bit behind you. let me know what you're seeing. are you seeing any activity? is anything changing in the last few minutes? are boats moving in? what's going on? >> no, we never saw a major surge at the honolulu harbor. waves appeared to be normal throughout the day today. the ships did sail out this morning. the coast guard cutters left before dawn. and most of the commercial shipping had left by 10:00 a.m. and they're still waiting offshore to be allowed back into the harbor. >> you told me all you've seen is stillness. you didn't see anything on the water that concerned you for your safety today, the water

itself? >> no. not at all. >> but you did tell me sort of freakishly empty outside? >> the police have -- we're down in an area that is considered to be a tsunami evacuation area. and so the police have stopped all traffic along the roads here. we're literally 50 feet from the water and there is actually anymore its highw nimitz highway between us and the water. >> you have seven days worth of food and water and backup supplies with you. what are you going to do with it all now? >> the water will go down the drain, the food we'll eat over time. >> the water -- the water is going to go down the drain? perfectly good bottled water? >> it is actually water from the tap that we put in some recloseable bottles. >> good for you. okay. also don't want to make light of the fact that authorities are saying don't go running outside. just because the warning has been lifted doesn't mean everything is going to be perfect conditions. >> no, we're staying at home.

>> charles, thank you very much for joining us. he joined us via ireport. he's been sending us photos, video stories. if you're in a position to do so safely, go to ireport.com and send us your latest and we'll share some right here. >> we love that. so great to hear first person accounts. thanks, josh. appreciate it. we're going to keep bringing you the latest official information from chile. as well as any information coming out of hawaii. but to really understand what it is like, you have to hear what people are saying who have gone through this. alaina rios was in santiago and she was riding in a car when everything started shaking. >> it was the most terrifying experience because it started, and it kept going, increasing and intensity kept going up and up and up. and everything was moving. we -- i actually thought that the ground was going to swallow the entire car. and, you know, it was -- we were shaking. it shook the car, like nothing.

and people start coming out on the streets and then we also saw some type of lagging in the sky and i think it was because it was shutting down the electricity. fortunately we did not see any -- any buildings suffering any kind of damage. however, many people got hurt inside because people fell on them or they got caught with glasses that had broken when they were running out of the building. it is a very high density area and there are many buildings everywhere. people were in the streets with their kids, their families. and, you know, just felt that it was never going to end. for a fraction of a second i was paralyzed. we were standing under the electric wires so i knew when the worst part we could possibly be. i told the guy that was driving, back up, because we were right under the electric wires. and at that point we tried to

back up, but the car wouldn't respond to the driver because, mine, it was like each wheel was going in a drink direction or was kind of undulating and just going up and down. it was like a wave on the ground. >> eyewitness account out of chile. the cnn newsroom continues with don lem within more on with more earthquake. i'm fredricka whitfield. have a great evening. boss: come a long way, that's for sure. and so have you since you started working here way back when. gecko: ah, i still have nightmares. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. looking at bones

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